News & Views
HWHG
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded a grant of £46,100 to the High Wolds Heritage Project. Full details can be read here.
Thixendale Matters 15. March 2008
St. Mary’s Church
St. Mary’s Church is having another textile collection to raise funds towards the heating. This is the perfect time to get on with your spring cleaning and turn out any clothes, bedding, curtains, shoes, belts and bags that you don’t need any more. Bags can be left in the side aisle of the church before the collection day which is on April 23rd at 10.45.
Work will start on the removal of the church boiler house shortly. This should resolve some of the damp problem. The stained glass window behind the font is also going to be repaired.
The Bell family has sponsored the gilding of the weather-vane in memory of Geoff and Amy Bell of Burdale.
Sunday teas
Sunday teas at the village hall continue to be very popular with visitors who really appreciate the hospitality and the delicious cakes! Thank you very much to everyone who helps in any way; you have raised £842 since January. However being so busy does mean that we really need two servers at least on a Sunday afternoon so we could do with some new volunteers to assist with serving teas please. No previous experience necessary and it is good fun! Try it and see. Names to Jenny Heron please. 288384
Parish Council Matters
The problem of dog owners allowing their pets to foul pavements, paths and areas of the cricket field where children play has been brought to the attention of the Parish Council. It is very sad that such anti-social behaviour continues when there has been so much local and national publicity. Perhaps dogs could be trained to fetch their own plastic bag as well as a lead when it is time for ‘Walkies!’ The Parish Council is buying two additional Dog Waste Bins which will be positioned at either end of the village. Let’s hope that this solves the problem.
Roman Re-enactment Event.
Our main fundraising village event this year will be a Roman Re-enactment by Comitatus. This will take place in the cricket field on August 9th and 10th. We hope to build other activities around this and have lots of willing volunteers with brilliant ideas for making money and having fun. There will be a meeting for volunteers in May to organise this event .
Dates for your Diary
March 11th. HWHG– Archaeology talk at 7.30 pm
March 15th. Bill Murray’s Book Launch from 2.00 pm
March 18th. Village Hall Meeting at 8.00 pm
March 23rd. Easter Communion Service at 9.30 am.
April 22nd. Parochial Church Council AGM 7.30 pm.
April 23rd. Textile Collection at the church. 10.45 am.
May 8th. Parish Council AGM at 7.00 pm.
May 13th. Village Hall AGM at 8.00 pm.
July 12th. Talk in St. Mary’s Church at 2.00 pm.
July 12-27th High Wolds Heritage Exhibition
August 9th and 10th. Roman Re-enactment Event
Misc
If anyone is interested in a one day food hygiene course please contact Jenny Heron. 01377 288384
Would volunteers willing to join the churchyard grass cutting rota please contact Pauline or Charles Brader.
High Wolds Heritage Group Minutes of Meeting 15. 11 March 2008
Talk on ‘Anglo-Saxons and Vikings at Burdale’ by Prof. Julian Richards
Prof. Richards gave a most informative and interesting presentation about the two archaeological training digs held at Burdale in 2006 and 2007. In two ten day periods the students concentrated on two different sites at either end of the valley bottom field, unearthing clear evidence of a Saxon settlement with enclosed areas and the remains of cellar pits from buildings which were probably used as workshops for weavers or smiths.
Slides of various finds such as coins, combs, a spindle and parts of fastenings were shown; these artefacts, which are now in the care of the Yorkshire Museum, provide evidence of occupation by people engaged in agriculture and related activities who were part of a wider trading network with other villages and towns. Researchers are particularly excited by the excellent condition of the many animal bones that were dug up; in time these will reveal the exact nature of the farming methods being used.
There is still a lot of research and analysis to be done with all the finds so it could be a couple of years before the outcomes are published. In the meantime thanks to Prof. Richards we now have some insight into what Burdale was like between the departure of the Romans and the arrival of the Normans.
The talk was very well attended; around sixty people, many of them new faces to the Heritage Group, and who have asked to be informed about future talks and other events. There clearly is considerable interest in archaeological and heritage matters in this region, which bodes well for other events that we have in the pipeline.
The next meeting will focus on the organisation and content of the exhibition. It would be helpful if you could bring along some ideas of what you would like to contribute in the way of display materials or particular themes that you would enjoy putting together. We hope to include the following villages in the exhibition so it would be good to have a minimum of at least one person from each community to act as a link person or co-ordinator, please. Acklam, Leavening, Thixendale, Huggate, Fridaythorpe, Fimber,Towthorpe, Wetwang, Sledmere and Cowlam.
Please note the day of the next meeting is Thursday, March 27th at 7.30 pm. not the Tuesday as provisionally arranged.
Summarized Thixendale Village Hall Committee Minutes (22 Jan 2008)
Present Mary Brader, Lynne Boyes, Lindsay Harrison, Jenny Heron, Lesley Sharpe. Harry Boyes, Tony Fisher, Eileen Burrell, Pauline Foster.
Apologies, Denise Jackson
Matters arising from the minutes
Christmas Fair; a successful event raising £352.30 to be shared by the Village Hall and St. Mary’s Church. The publicity in the Driffield Times and on Radio York brought people to the event. All money from the ‘Walk of Tranquillity’ has now been paid.
Grass Cutting and Maintenance
* name withheld *has been contacted and is willing to do minor jobs as requested at a rate of £--.-- per hour. It was agreed that a list of work needing doing should be kept in the village hall to be added to as necessary by members of the committee. Lynne to co-ordinate jobs with MW and the committee.
A maintenance book will also be set up listing names and contact numbers for contractors, suppliers and dates for annual servicing. A place will be designated for the maintenance book and for the safe keeping of keys. Lynne will negotiate any extra cleaning tasks with Claire.
The underfloor heating has not been working properly due to a faulty valve. This was replaced at no cost to us by Brian Ireland of Even Heat.
The lift has had its annual service and is working. It needs to be run regularly to distribute the oil on the chain.
PF will make signs for the lift stating that it must not be used by unaccompanied children and another sign asking parents not to let their children go into the kitchen.
Fire Extinguishers, Signs and extinguishers are all up to date but some extinguishers need attaching to the wall. (A job for ** perhaps?) There was further discussion about having an exterior flashing light to indicate that the alarm has been triggered. LB to obtain quotes from the original installers and a local electrician. In the meantime LH offered to check the alarm when PF is away.
Telephone line. PF has agreed to contact Amy at YRCC regarding grants for phone and internet access.
Village Hall signs. It was agreed that there should be a sign identifying the village hall. LB suggested that a new Village Hall notice board at pavement level (instead of on the wall) would encourage people to read the notices. The HWHG has requested permission to put up two history boards, one inside the hall and one exterior board. The exterior board could possibly be combined with a new village hall board. JH offered to obtain quotes. The Parish Council will be asked to see if it is possible to have village hall signs attached to the signposts at the end and middle of the village
The large Heritage Lottery sign will be fastened to the back wall of the carpark where it can be seen but will not be too intrusive. (Another job for **!)
EB is arranging for the small banner (made on Parish Plan day) to be framed. This will be hung on the back wall of the hall.
Finance and Business Plan. The current balance is healthy, over £6000. It was agreed that £5000 should be transferred to a higher rated deposit account.
SWOT Analysis. Work is progressing on this. David Hassall worked with members of the committee at a meeting in November and LS kindly typed up the analysis. There is still a bit to do on the final section, ‘Threats’.
Booking Forms. After discussion about the amount of information on the booking forms LH offered to revise the form and draft a ‘Users’ guide to Thixendale Village Hall’ to be enclosed with booking confirmation letters.
Fundraising and social events
The music night with Chris Berry and CMC at the beginning of December incurred a loss. This is the first event we have had that has not been successful financially, although it was a most enjoyable and entertaining night. We were not able to determine why people did not support it but the timing (December) could have been one factor. However members of the committee felt that we should continue to organise events of this nature and accept that some might need to be seen as social events rather than fund-raising. PF said that Ryedale can award an Arts Grant for £500 but they have to know the likely date of the event and the artists. PF will pursue this. Rural Arts also promote touring groups but these can be costly for a small venue.
LB had seen some publicity about Film Nights and wondered if this was something we might consider.
‘Comitatus’ Roman Re-enactment. John Conyard has offered the services of the re-enactment group again for village funds. The event will be on the weekend of August 9th and 10th. PF has suggested that the Cricket Club be invited to help with the event and to share the proceeds as they are planning to erect a new pavilion this year and it would be a good promotional event for them. Further discussion at the next meeting.
Eileen Birrell has resigned from the position of secretary due to work and study commitments. She was thanked for the years of service she has given, especially through the lottery application and administration period. It was greatly appreciated.
PF offered to act as secretary until the AGM in May.
Date of next meeting- March 4th 2008 at 8.00 pm in the village hall.
Date of AGM- May 13th 2008 at 8.00 pm in the village hall.
Please support the weekly Village Hall Lottery
The lottery draw, held in the Cross Keys at 9.00 pm. on Sundays, provides much needed funds for the Village Hall. Ticket sales have dwindled recently so we are asking everyone to renew their enthusiasm and buy lots of tickets. You won’t win a million but you will be making a difference and will make our ticket sellers very happy. Thanks.
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